Lewis; both parents were born in
Maryland. His paternal ancestors were English, and
those on the mother's side were of German descent. His
parents had a large number of children, of whom only
four survive, named as follows: Richard; Abraham. who
resides in West Virginia; John, who lives in Tipton
Precinct, Cass County, and Elizabeth, now Mrs. Cline,
who resides in Ohio. Our subject was married April 7,
1846, to Margaret Wells, a native of West Virginia.
she is the daughter of Richard and Nancy Wells. By
this union there has been a family of eight children,
four sons and four daughters, six of whom are living,
namely: Simon, Sanford C., Gilly, Adeline, Gertrude
and George. Those deceased are Rebecca and John. Simon
resides in Lincoln; Sanford C. resides in Hayes
County, this State; Gilly is now the wife of Benjamin
Ward, and resides in Colorado; Adeline is the wife of
M. L. Thomas, the editor of the Dundy County Pioneer,
at Benkleman, Neb.; Gertrude is the wife of George
Laverty, and resides in McCook, Neb.; George also
resides in McCook.
After the marriage of our subject he
settled in Virginia, where he farmed for many years.
In 1868 he migrated to Cass County with his family,
taking a steamer at Wheeling, coming down the Ohio to
its confluence with the Mississippi, thence up the
Mississippi and Missouri Rivers as far as Plattsmouth.
The first year he was in Nebraska he rented land. He
then purchased eighty acres in Eight Mile Grove
Precinct, settled on it, and began its improvement, in
regular pioneer style. The land had twenty-seven acres
plowed, which was all the improvement he had to begin
on. By energy, perseverance and good management he has
brought it up to a good state of cultivation. He now
owns 480 acres of good land, which he has procured by
purchase from time to time, and which is second to
none in value in the county.
The improvements which our subject
has made on his farm are very substantial in their
character, and are in accordance with a well-defined
plan. The barns and various other buildings are well
located and conveniently arranged for the purposes for
which they were intended. His dwelling-house is finely
located, and contains all the conveniences obtainable.
It is roomy and nicely furnished. He has planted a
good orchard, which is a source of handsome profit,
and presents a fine appearance.
The wife of our subject during her
life was an able coadjutor to her husband in all his
efforts and plans, and studied his interests
carefully, and much of his success is due to her wise
counsels and valuable assistance, which she cheerfully
rendered to the day of her death, which occurred Sept.
7, 1873. She left behind her a wealth of love and
affection, and a large circle of loving friends and
acquaintances. The place she filled in the home circle
can never be fully supplied. Her memory will ever be a
green spot in the lives of her husband and children.
She was identified with the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and endeavored to live what she thought to be
the earnest, consistent life of a Christian.
When Mr. Lewis settled in Nebraska
he was without means or any influential friends. He
could look to no one for assistance, and depended
entirely on his own energy and perseverance for
success. How well he has accomplished his purpose is
manifested by the present condition in which he finds
himself. He is kind-hearted and generous to a fault.
He is public-spirited, thinking that the greatest good
for the greatest number should be the prevailing
sentiment among the people. He is always found heartly
supporting any measure that may be proposed which will
have that result, oftentimes to his serious
inconvenience. In politics he is a Democrat, but has
filled no public office except a position on the
School Board, where he felt that his services would be
of permanent value.

ENRY
D. BARR is a valued citizen of Weeping Water (a
resident of the First Ward), where he is engaged in
business as a fire insurance and real-estate agent,
and as collector and conveyancer, and holds the
offices of Justice of the Peace and Notary Public.
Mr. Barr was born in Greene County,
Ohio, July 15,1849. His father, John W. Barr, was born
in Virginia, or Pennsylvania, and went to Ohio when a
young man, and as a pioneer of Allen County,

928

CASS COUNTY.

hewed out a farm for himself in the
wilderness. He always lived in that part of the
country after his removal to it until death called him
hence, in 1875. He was an upright, conscientious man,
and a consistent member of the Baptist Church, as was
also his good wife, whose maiden name was Phoebe
Snodgrass. She was the mother of eight children, all
of whom lived to maturity, namely: John C., Joseph M.,
James V. B., Robert H., Henry D., Elizabeth, Minerva
J. and Sally A. The four oldest boys served in the
army, and two of them never came back alive. Robert H.
was killed while gallantly fighting at Atlanta, Ga.;
Joseph was wounded at Harper's Ferry, Va., and was
transferred to the invalid corps at Columbus, Ohio. in
Camp Chase, and there died from the effects of his
wound April 5, 1864. Sally married C. C. Hadsell, of
Waterloo, Ind., and they are now living there; Minerva
is in Waterloo, Ind.; John C. is in Ottawa, Ohio;
James lives at Creston, Iowa, where he is engaged in
the mercantile business; Elizabeth died in Allen
County, Ohio. The mother of this family was born in
Virginia in 1812, and accompanied her father, Daniel
S. Snodgrass, to Ohio when young, and there lived
until her marriage. She died in Weeping Water, Jan.
23, 1883.
The subject of this sketch was but a
babe when his parents moved to Allen County, and he
was there reared amid pioneer influences. In 1861 he
left the parental home and entered the printing office
of the Auglaize County Democrat, serving an
apprenticeship of one year; from there he went to
Lima, Ohio, and again entered a printing office, that
of the Gazette, and was employed there a year
and a half. In 1863 he was called home to stay with
his parents, his older brothers having joined the
army. He assisted in the management of the old
homestead until 1865, when, the war being over, two of
his brothers came back and relieved him from further
duty. Thus gaining a thorough, practical knowledge of
the art preservative, he next went into the office of
the Allen County Democrat. Eighteen months
later he was elected Assessor of his home ward, being
then but twenty-five or twenty-six years of age. He
discharged the onerous duties of that responsible
office in a manner to call forth the warm praise of
his fellow-citizens.
He subsequently engaged in teaching.
a vocation to which he was well adapted both by
temperament and education. At one time he was
appointed delinquent tax collector for the city of
Lima, which office he filled satisfactorily. After his
term of office expired he came West. abandoning the
profession of teacher, he having taught nine terms. He
also read law one year with Judge McBride. When he
first to Cass County he stopped in Centre Precinct for
a few months, and then spent the following winter in
Iowa. He came back in the fall of 1880, and engaged on
various papers, and was local writer and editor of the
Republican, of Weeping Water, for a year, and
he was also on the staff of the Cass County
Eagle for two or three years. He subsequently
went to Talmage and purchased the Tribune, of
which paper he was editor and publisher until the
spring of 1885. He then returned to this place, and
was engaged on the Republican for a year. He
was thus engaged when he received the appointment of
Justice of the Peace, and resigned his connection with
the paper to accept it, having been appointed to fill
an unexpired term. In the fall of 1887, so
satisfactory was his administration of the affairs of
his office, he was elected for a full term, and
qualified Jan. 1, 1888.
Mr. Barr is a candid, sincere man of
unblemished character, whose intelligent,
well-informed mind amply fits him for any station to
which he may be called. He is influential in local
politics and a standard bear of the Republican party
of Cass County. Socially, Mr. Barr belongs to the I.
O. O. F., Prairie Lodge No. 25, also the Daughters of
Rebecca, Woodland Lodge, at Weeping Water.

DAM
HILD of Eight Mile Grove Precinct, presents a picture
of the typical well-to-do German farmer and
stock-raiser, with his comfortable home and fat cattle
and horses, and all the other substantial surroundings
brought about by his thrift and industry. His property
comprises 240 acres on section 35, and eighty acres on
section 36, with good buildings, fruit and shade
trees, the necessary farm machinery, and the various
comforts and conveniences which he has gradu-

CASS COUNTY.

929

ally added to the estate from year
to year. A man peaceable and law-abiding, he is one
who attends strictly to his own concerns, and one in
whom his neighbors have entire confidence.
Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, was the
native place of our subject, where his birth occurred
July 6, 1844. When a little lad six years of age his
parents, George and Margaret (Schaffer) Hild, who were
also of pure German birth and ancestry, decided to
emigrate with their little family to the United
States. Taking passage on a sailing-vessel at Havre,
they landed safely in New York City after a long ocean
voyage of sixty-seven days. Thence they repaired to
the vicinity of Rochester, where they lived about one
year, and at the expiration of that time set their
faces westward, resolving to cast their lot among the
pioneer settlers of Tazewell County, Ill. The father
rented a tract of land in that county, where he lived
and labored until his death, which occurred in March,
1881, when he was about eighty-three years of age. The
mother survived her husband six years. Her death
taking place Jan. 27, 1887, in Tazewell County,
Ill.
To the parents of our subject there
were born six children: George and Philip remain
residents of Tazewell County, Ill.; Elizabeth died
when thirty-five years old; Adam, our subject, was the
fourth of the family; Michael lives in Tazewell
County, and Charlotte is dead. Adam, like his brothers
and sisters, received but a limited education, and at
an early age was trained to habits of industry and
economy. He was fond of reading, and thus employed his
leisure hours, keeping himself well informed upon
topics of general interest. Nothing delighted him
better that to watch the growing crops, and no
occupation pleased him better than that of the
husbandman. His ambition was to have a farm of his
own, and to this end he labored from early manhood.
While a resident of Tazewell County, Ill., he was
married, Feb. 25, 1869, to Miss Elizabeth C. Reeg, a
native of his own country, born also in
Hesse-Darmstadt, Feb. 2, 1850. The parents of Mrs.
Hild were Jacob John and Mary M. (Kllinger) (sic)
Reeg, who were natives of Germany, and died in that
country. Mrs. Hild was only fourteen days crossing the
Atlantic, which at that time was considered quite
rapid transit. She was the third child of her parents,
whose family consisted of five children. namely:
Maggie Elizabeth, now deceased; Anna M, the wife of
Leonard Trautman, of Germany; Mrs. Hild; Sophia,
deceased; and Elizabeth, the wife of Michael
Schwarzfisher, of this county.
To our subject and his estimable
wife there have been born nine children, namely:
Michael, at home; Elizabeth and Adam, deceased;
Ferdinand J., George M., Philip A., Frederick L., Anna
C. and Emma L. After his marriage Mr. Hild continued
farming in Tazewell County, Ill., until the spring of
1863, when he decided to seek the farther West. He is
the owner of 320 acres of land which comprises one of
the finest farms in Eight Mile Grove Precinct. He has
been the architect of his own fortune, and was
fortunate in the selection of a wife and helpmate,
Mrs. Hild having proved herself fully its industrious
and energetic as he. Politically, our subject votes
the Democratic ticket.

ACOB
KUNZMANN, now the owner of 400 broad acres of land in
Eight Mile Grove Precinct, landed in Plattsmouth, this
county, in July, 1867, with a capital of ten cents in
his pocket. From that modest beginning and by years of
plodding industry, with the exercise of the most
careful economy, he has accumulated a snug fortune,
and presents an admirable illustration of the results
of energy and perseverance. He is numbered among the
leading stock-raisers in this part of the county, and
has his homestead on section 8, a place which, with
all its appurtenances, invariably attracts the
admiring attention of the passing traveler. It has
taken years of labor and thousands of dollars to bring
the property to its present condition, but the owner
and projector of this fine estate must certainly feel
that his labors have been richly rewarded.
The enterprising German citizen is
found all over the United States where thrift and
prosperity abound, and to him is this great
commonwealth largely indebted for the development of
her best resources. The subject of this sketch has
been in nowise behind his countrymen, and has con-

930

CASS COUNTY.

tributed his full quota to their
labors and their fame. A native of the Grand Duchy of
Baden, he was born on the 22d of August, 1833, and is
the son of Christian and Eve Kunzmann, who spent their
lives In Germany; their family consisted of five
children. Jacob spent his boyhood and youth like the
others, a portion of the time in school, receiving a
practical education in his native tongue. Later he
served an apprenticeship at the trade of shoemaker, at
which he worked for a period of seven years. After
that he was variously occupied until coming to the
United States.
Mr. Kunzmann remained a single man
until twenty-eight years of age, and was then married,
Sept. 1, 1861, to Miss Madalena Gebhart, a native of
his own Province, and who was born Feb. 2, 1837. Mrs.
Kunzmann was orphaned by the death of both parents
when a young child, and was reared by her maternal
aunt. Our subject and his wife continued to live in
the Fatherland until the spring of 1867, then decided
to emigrate to America. Securing passage on an ocean
steamer at Bremen, they landed in New York City after
a voyage of thirteen days, and making their way
directly across the Mississippi, came to this county,
within whose limits they have since lived.
Mr. Kunzmann was a resident of
Plattsmouth the first four years after coming to
America, and employed himself at whatever he could
find to do. By the most rigid economy and self-denial
on the part of both himself and his estimable wife,
they were in the fall of 1877 enabled to settle upon
their present farm. This was but little removed from
its primitive condition, and our subject worked early
and late to develop his land and bring the estate to
its present condition. He has been remarkably
prosperous, and is now enabled to rest upon his oars
and view with satisfaction the result of his arduous
labors.
Four children came to bless the
union of our subject and his estimable wife, the
eldest of whom, a son, William, is living at home;
Emma became the wife of Edward Herman, and they live
in Frontier County, this State; Joseph and Charles
continue under the home roof. Mr. and Mrs. K. are
members in good standing of the German Lutheran
Church, and are held in the highest respect by their
neighbors and fellow-citizens. Mr. K., politically
exercises the right of an independent American
citizen, aiming to support the men whom he considers
best qualified for office, irrespective of party.

W.
PITTMAN, who stands prominently among the solid men of
Cass County, can justly be classed with the pioneers
of the State, having spent thirty years of his life
west of the Missouri River. In 1859 he pre-empted a
tract of land in Rock Bluff Precinct, but did not
undertake its improvement, preferring to go to
Nebraska City, where he engaged in freighting across
the plains on his own account, continuing thus engaged
for nine years. His route was from the Missouri River
to Denver, and he visited at different times all the
places of note between the river and the mountains. He
also went into Montana Territory, and in 1862 and 1863
visited Virginia City, when the greatest excitement
prevailed in the mining regions of that part of the
country on account of the discovery of gold. Mr.
Pittman invested in mines and operated two at that
time, but his ventures were not successful, though he
lost nothing peculiarly. His experiences of frontier
life have been many and startling, and had we space to
rehearse them they would prove most entertaining
reading. Mr. Pittman is well acquainted throughout
this part of the United States, having always been the
same, genial, open-hearted gentleman he now is, making
friends of all chance acquaintances, and always
retaining their regard and esteem. In 1867, deciding
to permanently establish himself in a home of his own,
our subject located on a new farm of 160 acres on
section 15, Liberty Precinct, which he now occupies.
He has since then added to his landed possessions, and
is now the proprietor of 560 acres on section 15,
eighty acres on section 10, and has a six-acre tract
of timber on section 4. His farm is well watered,
having running water on every eighty acres, and it is
under good improvement. He has it heavily stocked, and
pays especial attention to stock raising and feeding,
that branch of his business being very lucrative. He
is considered one of the founders of Cass County's

CASS COUNTY.

931

present prosperity, as since
settling here he has been intimately connected with
its growth and development, having contributed
liberally toward the advancement of its interests. He
has attained his present position by the exercise of
his many natural gifts, among which are energy,
perseverance, and good financial judgment. On his
arrival in Nebraska he was not only a poor man, but
was heavily in debt, having met with reverses while in
the mercantile business in Iowa. He has since paid up
his indebtedness, dollar for dollar, and has a large
balance in his exchequer. Meanwhile, besides building
up a fine property, he has built up a good name for
himself, which, as Scripture saith, "is better to be
chosen than great riches."
We will now turn back in the history
of our subject, and give a brief review of his early
life. He was born on the 25th of March, 1834, in
Harrison County, Ind. (For parental history see sketch
of Andrew Pittman.) Our subject is the third son and
fourth child born of the first marriage of his father.
He was reared in his native county, and after
attending its common school for awhile, was sent to
the university at Hartsville, where he was a student
for several years. After attaining his majority our
subject went to Iowa, and supported himself by
teaching school and selling dry-goods in Weston, a
small town in Marion County. He remained there until
he became insolvent, then came to Nebraska to recruit,
and finally liquidated all debts, as before
mentioned.
Mr. Pittman was united in marriage,
in Marion County, Iowa, to Miss Lydia A. Goodwin. She
was born in Madison County, Ind., March 15, 1840. Her
parents, Samuel and Susan (Beange) Goodwin, were
natives of South Carolina, but moved to Indiana when
quite young, and were afterward married in that State.
Mr. Goodwin was a farmer and school teacher by
occupation, and followed that business in Indiana
until his death, which occurred in 1850. Mrs. Goodwin
subsequently married again, becoming the wife of Mr.
James Baley. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Baley
removed to Iowa, then to Nebraska, locating first in
Cass County, removing thence to Nebrsska (sic) City,
where Mrs. Baley died in November, 1883, in the
sixty-fourth year of her age. Mrs. Pittman remained
with her mother until her marriage with our subject,
receiving a good common-school education and thorough
instruction in household duties. To our subject and
his wife have been born nine children, two of whom,
David J. and Stella, died when about two years of age.
Of the seven living children, Arelia A. is the wife of
J. D. Bramblet, a farmer of Gage County; Melissa J., a
talented artist, lives at home; Hattie J. married
George L. Schryder, of Weeping Water Precinct; Charles
L., James S., Edward A. and Berdie D. are at home.
Politically, Mr. Pittman is a sound
Democrat, believing that within that party he the
principles that are the safest guides for our National
Government.

ALTER
MUTZ may successfully lay claim to the honor of being
one of the pioneers of Cass County, where he came with
his parents in 1856. He now resides on a
well-cultivated farm of 120 acres, located on section
14, Mt. Pleasant Precinct. He was born in Indiana,
Jan. 24, 1852. His parents lived in that State until
he was about three years old, when the family removed
to Mills County, Iowa, where they resided for one
year, when they continued their journey to Cass
County, Neb., where they settled on a tract of wild in
what is now known as Rock Bluff Precinct in Eight Mile
Grove. At that day neighbors were few and widely
scattered, and in common with the other early settlers
of the county, they had their full share of the
troubles and trials incident to the life of a Nebraska
pioneer. The father, John Mutz, now lives in Nemaha
County, Neb., with his aged wife, Phoebe, where they
removed from Rock Bluff Precinct several years ago.
The parents of Mr Mutz were natives of Pennsylvania;
his paternal ancestors were German.
Our subject is one of a family of
eight children; George W., Austin C.; Walter, our
subject; William, Otto, Albert, Nettie and Hattie.
George W. resides at Plattsmouth, Neb.; Austin C.
resides in Nemaha County, near his parents; William
resides in Dakota County, Neb.; Otto resides in Keya
Paha County, Neb.; Albert resides in Otoe County;
Nettie is the wife of John Majors, and now living
at

932

CASS COUNTY.

McCook, Neb.; Hattie is the wife of
A. T. Stewart, and resides at Omaha. The entire family
are classed among the very first and representative
pioneers of the State.
Our subject having been a resident
of Cass County since he was three years old, has seen
the country develop from a wild, cheerless waste to
its present prosperous condition, and without drawing
too heavily on imagination, he may be considered to
all intents and purposes a native to the manner born.
Possessing a fair education, he was engaged as a
teacher for three terms. With this exception his
entire life has been devoted to farming, in which he
has proved eminently successful, bringing a rare
degree of skill and intelligence to the business, and
ingeniously bringing everything to bear that could in
any manner contribute to his advantage and
success.
Mr. Mutz was married, Dec. 29, 1876,
to Martha Hall, the daughter of the Hon. James Hall, a
resident of Mt. Pleasant Precinct. This couple have
become the parents of six very intelligent and
interesting children. They are named: Jessie F., Guy
R., Katie E., Jay D., John G., and an infant son,
Harrison H. He has a large conception of the value of
a thorough education, and he is sparing no effort to
afford his children such advantages as the country
affords, to fit themselves to fill exalted positions
in life, with honor and profit, and by giving them
these facilities he gives them that which will always
be of value; and in the various mutations of life
cannot be lost.
The improvements our subject has put
upon his home farm are composed of very substantial
buildings, especially designed for the care and
economical handling of the stock and the various crops
grown on the farm. His residence is neatly and
tastefully designed, and is fitted with the latest
appliances to reduce the household cares to the
minimum, as he feels that it is but due to his good
wife that she should have everything obtainable to
make her household work, which at best is always
heavy, as light as possible.
The subject of our sketch is a good
conversationalist, and one who has not experienced the
adventures incident to pioneer life cannot spend an
hour to better advantage than to engage Mr. Mutz in
conversation, and listen to his narration of the many
perils experienced by him in his early years, which
are related in such a graphic manner as to carry the
listener with him back to those perilous days. In
politics this gentleman is a Democrat. He has served
on the School Board of his district for a number of
years. Both himself and wife are members of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, are very sociable and
hospitable, and take a lively interest in all matters,
either social, educational or religious, relating to
the general good of their neighborhood.

RS.
CHRISTINA RUMMEL, a lady highly esteemed in the
community, and the owner of a good farm property on
section 21 in Plattsmouth Precinct, is the widow of
the late Peter Rummel, who departed this life at their
homestead April 24, 1885. They were married in Pike
County, Ohio, March 22, 1864, and in November of the
following year came to Nebraska Territory, locating in
the pioneer days upon the land which Mrs. Rummel now
occupies, and from which has been constructed a
valuable homestead.
Peter Rummel was born in Pike
County, Ohio, Nov. 8, 1841, was a man of industrious
habits, persevering and enterprising, and occupied a
good position among the early settlers of Cass County.
His parents, Frederick and Angelina (Gloup) Rummel,
were natives of Germany, whence they emigrated to
America early in life, and settled in Pike County,
Ohio, where they still reside. Mr. Rummel was a member
in good standing of the United Brethren Church, and
belonged to the I. O. O. F., of Plattsmouth, at the
time of his decease.
Mrs. Rummel was born in Pike County,
Ohio, June 29, 1842, and is the daughter of Jacob and
Mary (Vallery) Vallery, who were natives of Germany,
and are residents of this township. The father was a
farmer by occupation, and the parental household
consisted of eight children; six are now living. To
Mr. and Mrs. Rummel there were born four children, all
sons, namely; George F., Jacob, William and Edward;
the eldest twenty-four years of age and the youngest
sixteen. Three of the sons are occupied at farming.
The eldest, George F., is